Folding booth



Sept 9,

A. M. SCHAPPA ET AL FOLDING BOOTH Fiwd Oct. 5 1929 ma ma v 2 Shaata-Shae! 1 ATTORNEY.

Patented Sept. 9, 1924.

ram

r j Frc ALBERT M. SCI-IAPIPA AND ROBERT GOWDY, OF \VESTFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, AS-

SIGNDRS TO THE PLANET COMPANY,

' roaarroiv or MASSACHUSETTS.

OF WESTFIELD, 'MASSACHUSETTS, A COR- FOLTDING BOOTH."

Application filed October 5, 1920. Serial No. 414,737.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ALBERT M. SoHArrA and ROBERT GOWDY, both citizens of the.

United States of America, and residents of Westfield, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Folding Booth, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to improvements in folding orcollapsible booths and the like, and more especially to booths used for votingpurposes, and consists essentially of a plurality of frames, which frames are articulated together and adapted to be set up to form the three sides of a booth or booth section, some booths being single, others double, and still others triple, etc., accordingly as the structure be designed to comprise a single section or two or more sections, a shelf or shelves for such section or sections, and supporting and looking or fastening means between said frames and shelf or shelves, whereby when the latter are in place, they are safely and properly supported and the frames are held securely in expanded or extended position, together with such auxiliary and subsidiary parts and members as may be necessary or desirable in order to render the structure c0mplete in every particular, all as hereinafter set forth. I i

The great increase in the number of voters, brought about by the granting of female suffrage, has renderedit desirable and even necessary to provide means to accommodate or meet such increase, and means which can be easily and quickly placed in position for use before election, and as easily and quickly removed after the voting is over; and the primary object of our invention is to assist in taking care of the new requirements, by' providing. a comparatively simple and inexpensive voting booth which occupies little space when folder or-collapsed, but can be set up in a comparatively short time and with com-v paratively little efiort, and is then capable of serving practically the same purposeas either the built-in or permanent booth or the non-collapsible booth. Our booth is in all respects capable of taking the place of the old type of booth, or of being employed as an auxiliary thereto.

Another object is to provide means where place by the shelf in each booth or booth section, when said shelf is placed in position,

and unlocked when said shelf is removed.

When our booth is set up it forms a stable structure that is provided with the customary andv necessary shelf or shelves upon which to place and mark the ballots, and affords the required degree of privacy. This booth can be made very light and is. therefore, easyv to handle.

Inasmuch as thebooth can be socompactly folded, it is possible to pack or store away a large number in a comparatively small space.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the course of the following description.

T/Ve attain theobjects and secure the advantages of our invention by the means illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a top plan of a bi-section,

folding booth; which embodies a. practical.

form of our invention, said booth being collapsed; Fig. 2, what may be termed a front edge elevation of said booth when if collapsed; Fig. 3, a side elevation of the collapsed booth; Fig. 4, an enlarged, perspective View of one of the shelves of the booth; Fig, 5, a top plan, in partial section, of said booth, in its expanded condition, or

when set up ready for use;v Fig. 6, a front elevation of the expanded booth, the lower portions of the frames being broken. off, and,

ig. 7 a top plan, on a reduced scale, of a single-section booth.

Similar reference characters designate similar parts throughout the several views.

Ordinarily it will be found more convenient tomake our'booth to include two sections, or, in other words, so to construct the same that it will afford two voting places, thus being a double booth, andthis form of the-invention we will first describe in detail. It is, nevertheless, entirely feasi- .ble to make the folding booth in or with one section so that when set up there is but a single voting place -or compartment only,

'and'also to make it up with more than two sections or places for individual voters. v

The booth shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 comprises five, articulated frames, each consisting of, a pair of uprights 1, a top cross-bar2, anjintermediate rail orfcross-bar 7 n a oes barcr br ce a a har distan e above the bottoms of said site pieces, and being provided with a panel 5 which closes the opening therein above the crossbar 3 thereof, and two horizontal shelves 6 which are adapted to fit between the end and intermediate crossbars 3 when the said frames are extended, together with means iOl sup.- porting and securing such shelves in place and locking the parts together. The :crossbars 2, 3, and 4- extend between the uprights 1 of each frame, and said uprights and cross bars are rigidly secured together.

Nhen set up this booth comprises an intcrmediate and two end-frames and-two back frames. The back frames at their adjacent ends are connected by two pairs of hinges 7 with the forwardlyextending, intern iediate frame, two of said "hinges directly connecting the inner upright 1 of one of said back frames withthe rear upright l of said 1ntel-mediate frame, and the other two'hinges connecting the inner upright l of the other back frame with said rear upright of said intermediate frame. The hinges 7 are so connected with their uprights 1 that the back frames can be swung forward thereon into contact with the sides of the intermediate frame. Eac'h end {frame is connected by a pair of hinges 8 with one of the back frames at the outer end, such hinges being fastened to adjacent uprights '1 of said end and back frames in such a manner that said end frame can be swung against the back or outer side of said back frame.

The panels 5 may be of any suitable, but preferably light-weight, material, such as canvas, provided the same be opaque so as completely to enclose the shelves '6 on the hack and ends, and prevent anyone outside of the booth from being able to 'see onto said shelves, from either the back or ends, and thus ascertaining in what manner the persons using the booth are marking their ballots.

The shelves 6 are of less width than the depth of the booth sections, as is customary in voting booths, so as to leave room for the voters to enter said sections for the purpose of using said shelves as supports for their ballots during the marking operation.

In the present case each shelf '6 is provided with three, flat hooks 9, two of such hooks being at the ends and the other at the back of said shelf. The hooks "9 are securely fastened to the top of the shelf, and extend out over the back and end edges thereof a suflicient distance to receive between said edges and the vertical parts of said hook-s the cross-bars 3 upon which the protruding portions of said Ehooks are intended to be supported. The end -hooks 9 on each shelf 6 are -'in offset relationship, and

7 directly opposite eaeh hook is a vertical slot -1'0 -in"the end of said shelf to accommodate the "vertical part .Of the adjacent hook on the companion shelf, there being a shelf in each booth section, as previously pointed out, This obv ates the necess ty of cutting slotsin the cross-bar or rail 3 of the intermediate frame, and the arrangement Justdescribed permits the shelves with their hooks to be used interchangeably.

The hooks 9 are designed to support the shelves '6 atth-e back and ends from the rails and the latter to 'the former, so that the structure is securely held in expanded or extend-edposition, cannot be accidentally collapsed, and affords ample support for the shelves.

In setting up this booth, the two back frames are swung rearwardly or outwarr. on the hinges 7 into a position at right-angles to the intermediate frame, and the end frames are swung forwardly or inwardly on the hinges 8 into parallel relation with said intermediate frame, and the two shelves 6 are placed in position with their hooks 9 in engagement with all five of the rails 25, each shelf being positioned with its rear edge in contact with one of the rear rails 3 and its end edges in contact with two of the other rai'ls The horizontal portions of the hooks 9 rest on the rails 3, and said rails are embraced between contiguous edges of n and the down-turned parts of the shelves 0 said hooks. It will now be clearly seen the t the shelves 6 are securely supported from the rails 3, and with the upper surfaces of said shelves on a level with the upper surfaces of said rails, andthat, at the seam time, the shelves with their hooks 9 lock the frames in position and securely hold them against independent movement. Two separate sections are thus provided for use in marking ballots by individuals who step into the sections, place their ballots on the 'Sh-elves, and mark said ballots. The panels 5 shut off the view from three sides, so that the person occupying either section and :which slots are, like the end hooks 9, in offset relationship, accommodate the down.-

turned parts of the adjacent hooks 9 which engage the rail 3 of the intermediate frame, and permits such edges to fit snugly within the expanded 1* open frames. The shelves are, of course, rect gu'lar. The panel on A L the intermediate ii me is cut away, as represented at ll in Fig. 5, to accommodate the two hooks 9 which extend from opposite directions over the rail 3 of said frame when both shelves are in position. These panels being of fabric, it is not necessary to cut away the panels with which the end frames are provided, to accommodate the hooks 9 at the outer ends of the shelves 6, or the panels with which the back frames are provided to accommodate the hooks 9 at the rear edges of said shelves, because such material will yield sufficiently to enable the down-turned parts of said hooks to be inserted in place between the rails 3 of said frames and the panels thereon.

I To collapse the booth, it is simply necessary to raise the shelves 6 sufiiciently to detach the hooks 9 from the rails 3 and remove said shelves, and then to fold the back frames forward against opposite sides of the intermediate frame and the end frames rearwardly against the back sides of said back frames. The folded frames and their shelves are now ready to be packed away or stored until again required for use.

The frames are preferably and customarily open beneath the rails 3/ The single section booth in Fig. 7 is very similar to what would remain of the bi-section booth, which has just been described, if one of the back frames and the attached or connected end frame were removed from the remaining three frames, except that in the single-section booth the end frame which is connected with the back frame by the hinges 7 is positioned with its rear upright 1 in front of the rear upright 1 of said back frame,instead of against the outside of said last-mentioned upright. This, however, is an unimportant feature and the connection might be similar to that shown in the other case.

lVhen the Fig. 7 booth is collapsed the right-hand end frame is folded against the front side of the back frame and the lefthand end frame is folded against the back side of said rear frame.

In this latter construction the two end frames are of the same depth or rather they extend forward from the back frame the same distance, when the booth is set up, while in the first construction the intermediate frame, although of the same depth as the end frames, does not extend forward so far, when the booth is set up, due to the fact that said intermediate frame thensets in between adjacent ends of the back frames.

- shelves This again, is unimportant, moreover, the

intermediate frame of the double booth could be made deeper if it were desired that the same extend forwardly as far as the end frames.

One or more sections can be added to the I double booth herein first described, merely by adding. one or more intermediate. and back frames at either or both ends of the structure just referred to, andattaching to the outer end or ends thereof the requirec end frame or frames. 1 a

More or less change in the shape, size,construction, and arrangement of some or all of vthe parts of our booth, in addition to. those hereinbefore specifically pointed out, may be made without departing from the spirit of our invention or exceeding the scope of what is claimed.

flVhatwe claim as our invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isi A folding booth comprising an intermediate frame, a pair of back frames hinged thereto and adapted to fold against opposite faces of said intermediate frame when collapsed, end frames hinged respectively to said back frames and adapted to fold against the outer faces of-the latter upon being collapsed, each of said frames consisting in part of vertical and horizontal rails, panels secured to portions of said frames,-the panel on said intermediate frame being slotted at a predetermined point therein, removable shelves provided with slots in the end edges thereof, said slots being arranged out of longitudinal alignment with respectto one another, and hook members secured to said 1 shelves and extending beyond the end and rear edges thereof adapted for engagement with certain of the horizontal rails of said frames to lock the latter in set-up and extended position,the end hooks being ar ranged in offset relationship but in longitudlnal alignment with the opposite end slots,

and the inner opposed end hooks of said being adapted for disposition through the slot in the panel to permit said hooks when positioned on the intermediate frame to be received in the slots of the contiguous shelves.

ALBERT M. SCHAPPA. ROBERT GOWDY. l/Vitnesses:

F. A. CUTTEli, A. C. FAIRBANKS. 

